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AADL Talks To: Bill Ayers

Bill Ayers
Bill Ayers, director of the Children's Community School in Ann Arbor, May 1968

Bill Ayers is a retired Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. During his time in Ann Arbor during the 1960s, he served as director of Ann Arbor's experimental Children's Community School; Education Secretary for the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS); and co-founder of the militant Weather Underground organization, which originated in Ann Arbor in 1969 as a far left-wing revolutionary party. 

Ayers traces the path of his political awakening from wide-eyed college freshman to seasoned student organizer and educator. He reflects on the tumultuous moral dilemma he and many activists faced as the Vietnam War raged on in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He discusses the factionalism within the SDS leadership that resulted in the formation of the Weather Underground; how the strands of student activism during this turbulent time were rooted in the moral agenda outlined by Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.; and his lifelong pedagogic commitment to education.

Bill Ayers, 1993
Bill Ayers at a Borders book signing, 1993

Ann Arbor 200
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AADL Talks To: Peter Andrews

Peter Andrews, photo by Leni Sinclair
Peter Andrews, circa 1971. Photo by Leni Sinclair.

In this wide-ranging interview from 2010, Peter Andrews recalls his varied career producing and managing local and regional music talent — from managing the Scot Richard Case (SRC) band and bringing bands like The Who, Jimi Hendrix, and the Yardbirds to Ann Arbor’s Fifth Dimension club, to booking national acts for University of Michigan student groups. He also discusses his role in Ann Arbor’s legendary Blues and Jazz Festivals, producing the John Sinclair Freedom Rally at Crisler Arena in 1971, and bringing John Lennon and Yoko Ono to town.

Articles and photos about Peter Andrews

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Friends of the Sixties: John Sinclair and the Blues Scholars

"Friends of the Sixties" and host Michael Erlewine present poet and blues scholar John Sinclair backed up by the Blue Scholars doing the words from an interview of Howlin' Wolf by Michael Erlewine at the first Ann Arbor Blues Festival in 1969. The Blues Scholars include Michael Erlewine on harmonica, Seth Bernard on guitar, Luke Winslow-King on bass, with vocals by May and Anne Erlewine. Originally recorded in 2007 at the Heart Center Studios. (c) Copyright 2013 by Michael Erlewine.

This video originally appeared here.

Juke Joints and Saturday Nights

Month
May
Year
2003

The Interviewer

Interview with Ann Arbor DJ Jim Dulzo

Day
12
Month
January
Year
2000

Jim Dulzo is one of Ann Arbor and Detroit’s favorite DJs. Dulzo is also a very skilled writer, and did music reviews for the Ann Arbor Sun, and many other publications.

Ann Arbor Blues Festival: Interview with Howlin' Wolf

Day
2
Month
August
Year
1969